The quality of competition keeps bringing Bobby Tillison back to Sun City.

Tillison, a Hilton Head Island accountant, returned to the community over the weekend to compete in his “third or fourth” Sun City Senior Doubles Championships, he said, and reached the finals of all three events he entered.

“There was plenty of good competition, lots of third-set tiebreakers in all the divisions,” Tillison said after his final match Sunday. “I got all I wanted.”

Teaming up with Beaufort resident Richard Gray, Tillison won the Men's 50 division title 6-4, 7-6 against Hilton Head's William Sturm and Savannah's Kevin Bryant. Tillison and Sturm came together to beat Tom Pleimling of Hilton Head and Mitch Walker of Alexandria, Va., 6-4, 6-4 in the Men's 55 division.

Tillison fell just short of a sweep, however, as he and teammate Julie Taylor of Hilton Head lost 6-3, 6-2 in the Mixed 50 final to Hardeeville's John Christensen and Hilton Head's Denise Raquet.

Raquet joined Tillison in a group of seven players who won two tournament titles.

Fripp Island's Kathy Haught and Beaufort's Kathy Hyatt paired for two victories, winning the Women's 60 division and the Women's 4.0 National Tennis Rating Program division.

Helene Wolf and Tim Wolf of Bluffton took home the Mixed 3.5 championship in addition to a couple of separate titles. Helene Wolf won the Women's 3.0 event with Bluffton's Roni LaCoste and Tim Wolf won at Men's 3.5 with Hilton Head's John Akers.

Keith Whitlow won the Men's 60 title with fellow Hilton Head resident Daniel Spar and the Men's 65 titles with Bluffton's John Chryst.

Tournament director Sherry Conrad said 183 players competed in the four-day event, which started Thursday. About 80 players hailed from outside Sun City, she said. Some came from as far away as Virginia, but most were from Hilton Head, Savannah or Beaufort.

“That’s really nice because it gives those of us here in Sun City an opportunity to have some different competition and play some interesting matches,” said Conrad, who was a runner-up in the Mixed 4.0 NTRP division with partner Dennis O'Connor.

“It challenges players. The other teams have strengths the people you play regularly don’t and you have to adjust your game.

This was Sun City's 14th consecutive doubles tournament, crowning champions in 18 divisions across various age groups and skill levels. Players could enter as many as three events, with the 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 NTRP divisions allowing them to earn points toward their United States Tennis Association rankings.

Tillison, who is an assistant coach on Hilton Head Island High School's six-time defending state champion girls tennis team, said the level of play has varied little from year to year since his first appearance. The tournament became a USTA Level 3 event in 2008, making it more attractive to top-flight senior players.

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